Dog is afraid of people

[TommyR]

I just got a female boxer from rescue. The dog is very timid, jumps at every sound. It paces around the house. It will follow me and my wife around, but doesn't feel comfortable being petted or rubbed. Doesn't get aggressive just tries to get away. The dog is between 5 to 6 yrs old, probably was a puppy mill. Had its vocal cords cut so it can't bark. When we brought the dog in the house she didn't know how to climb stairs and was walking on the carpet funny like she didn't know what it was.Just want this dog to be comfortable around people. Thanks for any help you could give us. Tom

[glaiza]

Hi. First of all. I want to say what a great thing it is that you have rescued a dog from the shelter - especially one as old as she is and one with a history such as hers. Others would have just walked away.

Now for the timidness. This is most probably a result of how she was treated prior to getting to a shelter and prior to getting to you. The cut vocal cords alone show how much abuse the dog has been through. Dogs like that either tend to be very aggressive or they could be a timid as your dog is. What you have to is to make your dog feel more comfortable around you, your wife, and other people - but then again, you already know that. You then have to understand that this takes a lot of time and it can take a lot of effort too.

Show the dog that she is loved and she will gradually warm up to you. She may not like to be petted now - she may fear human contact because of what happened to her in the past, but with constancy, she will learn to love it. Her following you around is already a sign that she trusts you. Just take your time with her, she'll come around. She even has the potential to be a very loving and protective companion.